Drill guides may be provided for use in connection with guiding a drilling element in the course of forming a borehole in a face of a mine passage. Typically, the drill guide includes a pair of pivotally mounted clamping jaws that close to support the drilling element as the result of the application of hydraulic force. One approach may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,428,935 to Hinshaw et al. the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The need to provide a manual holding force for the drilling element while these jaws are closed using hydraulic power can require considerable skill, and often leads to suboptimal results. Also, the drill guide hoses for supplying the working fluid to an associated actuator are usually poorly positioned, and prone to failure as a result. Accordingly, a need is identified for an improved drill guide that meets and overcomes one or more of the foregoing limitations and others.